Packer pitch 'smoke and mirrors', says Costello

Kirsty Needham

James Packer's high-roller Sydney resort has banned pokies but will include unlimited electronic casino games that anti-gambling crusaders say are just as damaging and appeal to local gamblers, not VIPs.

The proposed Packer deal with the NSW government also opens the door to more suburban clubs getting into the electronic casino business from 2019.

Winner: James Packer has the support of the NSW government to open a new Sydney resort. Photo: Louise Kennerley

Falling poker machine revenues across NSW have been viewed by casinos and clubs as punters losing interest in traditional slot machines as they turn instead to electronic blackjack, roulette and baccarat.

The Crown Sydney resort will be permitted to have unlimited ''multi-terminal gaming machines'' - or fully automated table games without a croupier, with minimum bets of $20 for blackjack, $25 for roulette and $30 for baccarat.

The same machines will be permitted in limited numbers in small clubs as substitutes for poker machines, with $100 maximum bets, under a new law passed by the O'Farrell government last month.

The Reverend Tim Costello, chairman of the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce, asked why the machines were classified as table games in a casino - and hence were exempt from the statewide poker machine cap - yet were counted as poker machines in pubs or clubs.

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''It is subterfuge and it is dishonest,'' Mr Costello said. ''Clubs are really keen on these machines and the casinos love them because they don't need a croupier.''

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He said the automated games were ''just as devastating as pokies'', and their inclusion in the Packer casino showed its pitch of being an upmarket VIP gaming salon was ''smoke and mirrors''.

''VIPs are not interested in playing the automated games, they are targeting locals,'' Mr Costello said.

Crown has told the NSW government that local players will comprise only 5 per cent of gamblers. But Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs have predicted Crown Sydney will need to earn half its revenue from local players to turn a profit, and some analysts expressed surprise at the inclusion of ''low'' bet tables of $25 and $30.

Clubs NSW wants to be allowed to replace poker machines with more profitable electronic casino games, and was angered by a law imposed by the previous Labor government limiting clubs to 15 per cent of electronic casino games in a gaming room from January 2014.

Premier Barry O'Farrell gave an election commitment to Clubs NSW to lift the cap but discovered he was unable to because of an exclusivity deal already struck between Star and the previous government.

However, the decision to offer a second casino licence effectively ends Star's exclusive deal from 2019. Crown's proposal, by contrast, states it ''does not seek any exclusivity agreement'' as part of its licence.

A spokesman for Mr O'Farrell said: ''There is nothing in the Crown proposal that will affect the treatment of clubs in relation to multi-terminal gaming machines.''

Mr O'Farrell, should he remain in government in 2019, would be free to fulfil the election promise to Clubs NSW.

Star last year boosted the number of electronic casino games it offered from 358 to 514, as poker machine revenue fell. Crown introduced 50 fully automated machines, offering up to 200 seats, in 2009.

Clubs NSW said any change to the cap on electronic casino games would require a regulatory change and this was a matter for government.

Mr Costello said Adelaide's casino was initially pitched as an upmarket casino with a ban on poker machines but this lasted only two years before poker machines were introduced to boost revenue.